Pesticide application as routine in EU apple production October 2015 Greenpeace Research Laboratories Technical Report 06-2015 www.greenpeace.de Content 01 Executive Summary 3 02 Materials and methods 7 03 Results 8 04 Discussion 11 05 Annex 18 2 PESTICIDE APPLICATION AS ROUTINE IN EU APPLE PRODUCTION Pesticide application as routine in EU apple production 01 Executive Summary 126 samples of dessert apples were obtained from 11 European countries and of these, 17 samples were of declared organic provenance. The samples were analysed at an independent laboratory in Germany using a multiresidue analytical technique capable of targeting a wide range of pesticides and their metabolites (500 parameters). Results showed that none of the organic samples contained detectable residues. Of the 109 conventionally grown apple samples, 91 (83%) contained one or more detectable residues, with the maximum number of 8 residues being detected in a sample from Bulgaria. The highest mean numbers of residues per sample were found in samples from Spain (4.3) followed by Bulgaria (4.0) and the Netherlands (3.4). Numerically, the most frequent pesticide types found were fungicides (20) and insecticides (16), with the remainder made up of acaricides (2) and the Captan metabolite THPI. THPI was the most frequently detected substance (76) followed by Captan (20), Boscalid (19), Pirimicarb (18) and Chlorpyrifos-ethyl (15). Two pesticides not approved for use in the EU were found: Diphenylamin in one sample from Spain and Ethirimol in one sample from Poland. In this latter case it is possible that this residue was a result of degradation of Bupirimate. Diphenylamin is allowed as a post-harvest treatment in countries outside the EU. Accordingly the low level found may have arisen as a result of cross-contamination during storage or packaging of apples from both EU and non-EU sources. Analysis of the results using the German Toxic Load Indicator database1 showed that 14 of the detected pesticides warranted the highest possible ranking of 10 for their toxicity to aquatic organisms. 15 residues warranted a ranking of 10 for their toxicity to beneficial insects, and a subset of 8 of these were ranked at 10 due to their specific toxicity to bees. 13 detected pesticides had the highest possible score in relation to persistence, while 7 had the highest possible rating in relation to their potential for bioaccumulation. In many cases a clear and comprehensive analysis of possible health impacts cannot be carried out. From examining the Pesticide Properties Database (PPDB), it is apparent that there are large knowledge gaps in the information available to assess pesticides’ health impacts. There are important uncertainties and indeterminacies associated with the various possible hazards posed. Of particular concern are data gaps related to carcinogenesis, mutagenesis and potential endocrine disruption for a significant proportion of the pesticides detected in the apples analysed in this study. In addition, reflecting a more general gap in the types of information available, no information could be found on the possible environmental or health implications of the presence of the detected pesticides as mixtures. Taken together with the known hazards, the information gaps on impacts of single substances and of mixtures represent critical failings of the current regulatory regime for pesticides. The continued failure to address these gaps suggests that the current regulatory system is not fit for purpose. 1 See section on environmental assessment for further details PESTICIDE APPLICATION AS ROUTINE IN EU APPLE PRODUCTION 3 Finally, it should be emphasised that none of the residues found in the samples collected exceeded Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) for apples. The study illustrates that marketed products show the use of a huge diversity of pesticides, reflecting pre-harvest and any post- harvest pesticide applications which are the norm in the conventional growing of apples. This, taken together with the many knowledge gaps on the impacts of these pesticides, either alone or in mixtures, is a reason for considerable concern. Greenpeace Recommendations The results obtained in this study, from analysing conventionally produced apples sourced from various retailers for pesticide residues, provide a further illustration of the urgent need to move away from the current chemically intensive agricultural paradigm. Specifically, there is a need to reduce and ultimately to eliminate the use of pesticides. This will involve shifting away from industrial agriculture systems by implementing ecological farming practices. This, in turn, will allow the ecological and economic problems currently facing the agricultural sector to be effectively and holistically addressed. Accordingly efforts should be directed at: ` Breaking the vicious circle of pesticide use. Focus on functional agrobiodiversity is key. It is fundamentally necessary to improve soil management, implement biological control of pests, choose resistant varieties adapted to local conditions, set up schemes for proper crop rotation and diversify agricultural systems in order to facilitate the replacement of pesticides in agricultural production. ` Ensuring proper implementation of the EU Directive on the sustainable use of pesticides. Concrete measures and ambitious targets need to be put in place by EU member states in order to move towards a substantial reduction in pesticide usage as required by relevant EU Directives. ` Overhauling regulatory controls for pesticide risk assessment. There is an urgent need to resolve indeterminacies and uncertainties around health and environmental impacts of pesticides. The effects of cocktails of agro-chemicals on human health and the wider environment also need to be investigated and monitored. Relevant findings need to be translated into an effective regulatory framework. In the absence of such information, regulation of pesticides needs to take place on a strictly precautionary basis. In addition, whole formulations of pesticides need to be assessed, rather than the active ingredients alone. There is a need to make regulation of pesticides responsive to new information, which may emerge after the approval process. All information used in the approval process should be placed immediately in the public domain as a matter of routine. 4 PESTICIDE APPLICATION AS ROUTINE IN EU APPLE PRODUCTION PESTICIDE APPLICATION AS ROUTINE IN EU APPLE PRODUCTION 5 6 PESTICIDE APPLICATION AS ROUTINE IN EU APPLE PRODUCTION 02 Methods and Materials A total of 126 samples of apples were obtained from 11 European countries and, of these, 17 samples were declared to be of organic provenance. Samples were bought between the 24th of August and the 17th of September, depending on the local conditions and with the aim to coincide sampling with entry of the new season’s crop coming from national production into the retail chain. All of the apples were dessert apples grown for human consumption and covered 43 different varieties, from the more common ones like Elstar or Royal Gala to less well known varieties like Gravensteiner or Summerred. The number of samples collected in each country were as follows: Austria 10 samples; Belgium 4 samples; Bulgaria 5 samples; Switzerland 8 samples; Germany 39 samples; France 13 samples; Italy 10 samples; Netherlands 5 samples; Poland 10 samples; Slovakia 8 samples; Spain 14 samples Analysis of apples was carried out at an independent laboratory in Germany, using a modified QuEChERS (DIN EN 15662) analytical protocol. Pesticides were analysed using a multiresidue GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS method covering 500 different substances, with a detection limit (LOD) of 3µg/kg and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 10µg/kg for most compounds. In summary, 10ml of acetonitrile (HPLC Gradient Grade, VWR) was added to 10g of sample, together with an internal standard solution (containing isoproturon-d6 for LC-MS/MS analysis, and anthracene-d10 for GC-MS/MS analysis). After addition of 4g of anhydrous magnesium sulphate, 1g of sodium chloride, 1g of trisodium citrate dihydrate, and 0.5g of disodium hydrogen citrate sesquihydrate, the whole mixture was shaken and was then separated using a refrigerated centrifuge. 7ml of the supernatant was transferred to a tube containing 1g of anhydrous magnesium sulphate and was then briefly shaken by hand and centrifuged again. An aliquot of the supernatant was removed and, after addition of 10µl of 5% formic acid solution per ml of extract as an analyte preservative, was analysed by LC-MS/MS. 300mg of PSA cleanup sorbent were added to the remaining solution, and the mixture was then shaken and centrifuged in a refrigerated centrifuge. Two aliquots of the supernatant were then transferred to two vials, and, after addition of 10µl 5% formic acid solution per ml of extract, were used for GC-MS/MS analyses. PESTICIDE APPLICATION AS ROUTINE IN EU APPLE PRODUCTION 7 03 Results Of the 126 individual samples analysed, no substances were detected in the 17 samples declared to be of organic provenance. Of the remaining 109 samples, 91 (83%) contained one or more detected substances while 65 (59.6%) of the samples contained 2 or more detected substances. Pesticide residues could not be detected in only 18 (16.5%) of these conventionally grown samples. A total of 39 individual pesticides/pesticide metabolites were isolated from the conventionally grown merchandise. The ranges of concentrations found for each pesticide are shown in Table 2. None of the